GEN-I Sonce project knows no borders

27. September 2018

The GEN-I Group has set up the first solar power plant in Croatia. A ceremony was held today on the island of Krk during which the owner and the President of GEN-I’s Management Board, Robert Golob, Ph.D., opened the aforementioned power plant.

Photo 1: PZ Gospoja solar power plant

The GEN-I Group is committed to promoting the rapid transition to green energy, the reduction of the carbon footprint and to ensuring the well-being of the planet. We are gradually spreading this belief to all of the markets on which we operate. Starting this year, we are offering the purchase of electricity produced in solar power plants in Croatia, too.

The GEN-I Group has thus achieved a new milestone. The Group set up the first solar power plant in Croatia. The Sonce project, which was kicked off by GEN-I in 2015 and has resulted in the construction of more than 500 solar power plants in Slovenia since that time, has thus finally reached beyond national borders.

The PZ Gospoja solar power plant generates 20.5 kW of power and will produce 25,240 kilowatt hours of green electricity a year. It is located in the idyllic surroundings of the Vinotel Gospoja Hotel on the eastern shore of the island of Krk. It will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10.6 tons a year and will generate more than EUR 57,000 in savings in electricity consumption over the power plant’s useful life (30 years). The power plant is designed in a way that will facilitate the use of the vast majority of electricity produced by the hotel itself, while only a small amount of electricity will be returned to the network.

The owner of the EUR 24,500 investment, which will be returned in full in ten years, is the well-known and reputable Toljanić entrepreneurial family from Vrbnik on the island of Krk. The family’s work ethic has made it successful, bold and distinct. The Vinotel Gospoja Hotel combines tradition and a visionary approach in a superior tourism experience, where protection of the environment plays a key role.

“Contrary to some competitors who are withdrawing from Croatia, our objective is to increase our market share by increasing our focus on renewable energy sources and by expanding our portfolio for customers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, with a focus on innovations,” said the President of GEN-I’s Management Board, Robert Golob, Ph.D., during the opening of the PZ Gospoja solar power plant. He added, “We are proud to have set up the first solar power plant in Croatia in this idyllic location. We have linked two successful entrepreneurial stories. We are showing other entrepreneurs and the owners of tourism facilities with high electricity costs in the summer the path to resolve that problem.”

The GEN-I Group is planning to build another solar power plant as early as next year at a new catering facility that will be built by the Toljanić family. We are also in the process of agreeing on the set-up of three smaller power plants at houses owned by the family. That cooperation may be further extended with the set-up of a charging station for the electric vehicles of the guests of Vinotel Gospoja Hotel. “For Croatia, green energy represent tremendous potential for the creation of new jobs and the generation of higher added value,” emphasized Mr. Golob.